Innovate 08 tells printers to “be remarkable”

Innovate 08 is the fourth such event organised by Fuji Xerox, and is travelling through the Asian region to present a message of the opportunities available to print companies through the use of digital print technology and imaginative entrepreneurial skills. The seminar was free to Fuji Xerox users, as part of Fuji Xerox’s ongoing digital print market development initiatives.

The three presenters touring with Innovate 08 include Peter Muir (pictured), president of Bizucate Inc, a lively presenter who exhorted the audience to “do something, anything, and then measure the result and adapt it to improve it”. His message was one of stepping out of a company’s comfort zone to approach clients with new initiatives to improve their business marketing, and to be proactive in their clients’ activities to drive both businesses further. This means dealing not with print buyers but rather with senior executives who make strategic decisions for client companies — becoming a member of their “big person table”.

Muir claims to have found one common denominator among business people around the world: “a genuine interest in making money”.

“It’s about being remarkable,” he told the audience. To achieve that goal he advised to “stop doing things that hurt, do what you love, ignore what authority figures say, and practise, practise, practise”.

Also appearing on the stage was Waleed Ashoo, president and CEO of US company Lithexcel, who adapted his business from one of commercial offset printing to digital communications services with startlingly successful results. His methods for improving relationships with clients included changing salespeople’s techniques to one of business development rather than simply selling print. Those salespeople who couldn’t adapt had to move on, he advised the audience, which was best for both company and sales personnel.

Printers offer many services which are not billed, he said, but they should be included as part of a new means for dealing with clients, including project management, database management, intellectual property management and consulting services.

Joe Rouhana, industry solutions manager at Xerox Corporation in the USA, presented a concise summary of the benefits of complementary digital and offset printing, and the means of achieving them through automated workflows. A brief technology overview included business opportunities from new security solutions from Xerox, such as microtext printing, glossmark and infrared text printing, all of which require little new technology or investment.

The Innovate 08 “roadshow” now moves on to Johor Bahru in Malaysia and Shanghai.

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